


The Final Request

by orphan_account



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Explicit Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 12:17:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6704281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and MacCready accompany Quinlan on a quest to find "technology" needed for the Brotherhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Final Request

It's amazing what people do for 25 caps, even if it means spending most of the day scrounging buildings looking for pieces of paper with nerd stuff written on it. Rose happens to be one of those people. 

25 caps is 25 caps, she tells herself as she wipes dust off her armor. She hates it, hates it more than Deathclaws hate humans. This level of work is beneath her, she is a Knight after all. This is the kind of chore a Field Scribe should be responsible for. But the documents are easier for her to find than a real paying job, so she can't complain. Her partner, MacCready, can. In fact, he has been ever since he and Rose entered the hospital.

"Don't tell me we're looking for those nerd papers again," he groans as Rose begins rifling through drawers.

"Of course not, Mac. We're looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," she deadpans. 

"Why do I even put up with this shi—crap?" he mutters, rolling his eyes.

"Because I'm paying you." He was her employee, technically speaking.

Rose had been hesitant about hiring a random stranger to protect her, but she didn't have much of a choice. Fresh from Vault 111 with a broken heart and at a loss on how to survive in this new world made her an easy target for whatever was out there. She was good with hand-to-hand combat, but knew nothing about guns. MacCready was a mercenary for hire and she needed all the protection she could get. At first, it seemed like the 250 caps she'd paid him had gone to waste because he showed nothing impressive—the only thing he was good at was being annoying.His sarcasm kept him out of a job, but Rose had grown accustomed to it. In fact, she came to see it as a sign of friendly affection. As time went on, she realized how excellent of a shot he was. 

"Oh, yeah. I must be the luckiest guy on Earth, having someone as fun as you as my boss." He was being bitter, but was interrupted by a sneeze that spoiled the effect of his tone. He sounds like a kitten, making it hard for Rose to take him seriously. For all the bitching he did about her collecting "junk" (he obviously had no idea how to modify weapons), he hadn't abandoned her yet. Rose took that as a good sign.

“What are these papers even for?” he wonders out loud.

“For the Brotherhood of Steel.” MacCready scoffs. That was a group he didn’t want to mess with. He didn’t like that Rose was associating with them. There was nothing he could do, though. Rose was her own person and if she chose to adhere to those weirdos in mechanical armor, so be it.

Rose had joined the Brotherhood of Steel mainly by accident. One day she found herself running away from a skinned bear with half of its face close to falling off and ran into what looked liked a menacing robot. Upon further examination, she realized that it was not a robot, but a human in power armor. Her husband, Charles, had served in the military before the bombs went off and he had told her about the few times he had seen them used on the battlefield. The man with armor eyed her warily, gun in hand. She put down her weapon—a dinged up baseball bat with spikes that she had made herself—and told him she meant no harm. He finished off the wretched excuse of a bear and afterwards, she explained to him her situation. He brought her back to the base, the Prydwen.

The people on the ship were full of good intentions, but executed their ideas poorly. To them, peace meant the demise of anything that wasn't human. They were advocates of the "shoot first, ask questions later" policy. Rose made up her own rules as she went, not really wanting to be tied down. Their hatred of all things non-human didn’t sit well with her either. However, they had been the only place she felt a connection to. It sort of reminded her of her husband.

MacCready had been her partner before she sided with the Brotherhood, and he hadn't been very pleased when he heard the news. She tries not to bring him along whenever she visits the airport but sometimes it’s unavoidable. If he happens to come with, he’ll either be standing awkwardly by the airport entrance or walking along the shore.

"Found one, I think," MacCready announces, quite proud of himself. He brings the slip to her and she pockets it. He opens his mouth to ask whether or not he'll get his fair share but thinks better of it. Rose talks big, but she’s not one to cheat others. Sometimes she gives him more than what is necessary. She values his company.

They spend another hour cleaning out the building of enemies, as per Kells request. The only building inhabitants seemed to be ghouls, freaks that MacCready almost enjoys killing. She wasn't sure why his face lit up when he put a bullet through the zombie-like thing's brain—if ghouls even had brains anymore—and so far, he hadn't elaborated.

"This place looks dead enough, I think it's time to go," Rose says. MacCready sneezes, muttering about how he hates his "god dang" allergies and is glad to be leaving this mini hell. That poor man had been sneezing ever since they entered the place and Rose felt for him. 

Before the bombs went off, Rose's husband had seasonal allergies but he was able to take medicine to lessen the effect. There was no more medicine, no more hospitals, no—

"Hey, boss, you alright?" MacCready asks, waving a hand in front of her face. She had unknowingly zoned out.

"Uh, yeah. Lost in thought, sorry." She brings her mind back to Earth and holsters her weapon. She pushes open the front door and throws a Vertibird signal grenade. The duo sit on the steps in comfortable silence, waiting for their ride.

Rose thinks about life before 2077. She had it good. A wonderful husband, a nice house, a robot butler. What more could a girl ask for? She was happy, so happy. When the bombs fell, she knew the world would never be the same. The vault she was forced into had only prolonged the inevitable sense of doom.

She was pulled out of her reverie by the whirr of the helicopter-like machine. It had huge blades that spun in circles, keeping the machine suspended in the air. The body of the Vertibird was larger than that of a helicopter and there was a machine gun mounted on one side, manned by a field scribe.

"We get to ride on a whirlybird?" MacCready is slightly anxious. He isn't a big fan of heights and he can't stop thinking about the thing crashing.

"We sure do," Rose grins, climbing into the belly of the machine. She loves to fly. MacCready follows suit, hesitating only slightly, and they stand in the back, hands affixed to the bars above their heads. The ship shifts slightly from side to side, due to turbulence.

Rose peeks her head out the side and watches as the world goes by in a blur of browns and grays. The landscape looks better from up above, Rose thinks.

Her train of thought is interrupted by a dry-heaving MacCready. He had thought it would be a good idea to look down at the ground they should be standing on and not flying above. He didn’t realized how high up he was and once he did, he got nauseous. Luckily the ride to the Prydwen wasn’t too terribly long and MacCready managed to not throw up.

They arrive at the Prydwen and MacCready decides to follow Rose in. She's grateful for his company—the ship and everyone in it could be intimidating at times. Its inhabitants remind Rose of her husband and she pushes the thought away. There was no time to reminisce—there was too much work to be done.

Rose made her way to the nerdy old man who needs the documents: Quinlan. He's in his room, berating a new Scribe.

"...thought you knew better," he scolds. "Next time you decide to disobey my orders, you'll have to report to Maxson." 

"Yes, sir," the Scribe nods vigorously and flees the room. Quinlan turns his attention to Rose and offers her a smile. She gags internally but flashes him one back.

"Do you have documents for me?" His stuffy British accent irritates the hell out of Rose.

"10 of them," she says, pulling them out of her pocket. He hands over 250 caps in return. Cheap bastard. 250 caps for hours worth of searching and killing. If he knew how hard it was, he wouldn't be so goddamn stingy. She turns to leave but he stops her.

"I need your help. I'm looking for something and you seem to be the best person for the job." Great.

"What's the job?"

"I need you and your, uh, friend," he points to MacCready, "to accompany me on a search."

“Yes sir. When are we to depart?” She knows better than to question him. He holds more authority over her and to do so would result in a punishment. MacCready, however, doesn’t.

"Wait, hold up. You just going to agree like that? We don’t even know the details!" MacCready exclaims. Rose had to follow orders, that’s the perk of being in the Brotherhood of Steel.

"I have reports that confirm there are pieces of equipment inside Hubris Comics."

"Wait—Did you say comic store? I'm in!" MacCready is giddy. He hasn’t stepped in a comic book store ever. He couldn’t wait to get a hold of a comic, if there were any left. 

"Yes.." MacCready's amusement annoys Quinlan. It was not meant to be fun, it was work. 

"Let's get going then," Rose says as she adjusts the pack on her shoulders. She was less than happy about the task. She couldn't stand the sight of Quinlan or his voice. He had such a long, boring face made even uglier by the poor choice of glasses. He never smiled, except at her, so he had major frown lines. His forehead was so large you could fit a second person in it. To make things worse, he liked Rose. In a more-than-just-a-friend way and it set her on edge.

The trio leaves the Prydwen and enters a Vertibird. MacCready can feel his stomach churning again. He's going to be sick. Rose is about to ask if he's okay but stops when he begins heaving. He manages to throw up outside of the machine and not all over Quinlan like Rose had willed him to do. She turns away—the sight of puke makes her feel queasy. Quinlan scrunches his face and turns his nose up.

MacCready finishes and wipes his mouth with a corner of his duster. Rose hands him a bottle of water. He accepts it greedily.

"Is your friend going to be well enough to accompany us? I don't want to be slowed down." Quinlan asks once they arrive at the comic store. His arrogant tone makes Rose want to punch him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking," MacCready sneers. He hadn't known Quinlan for more than a few hours but he decided Quinlan was an asshat. Quinlan ignores his remark.

The inside of the store is littered with burnt comic books, dust, and debris. The broken windows let in rays of sunlight that illuminate the deep cracks decorating up the walls. The dust they stirred up is visible in the light, making it look like it’s snowing. MacCready starts to sneeze. Being inside a real comic book store makes it worth it, so he doesn't complain.

"Whe—" Rose starts but is interrupted by a growl. A feral ghoul had been hiding beneath the table and had been disturbed by a excited MacCready. MacCready fumbles for his gun but Rose is quicker. She aims for its head and ends up clipping its arm. Quinlan fires his laser pistol, burning the wall and not the ghoul. Rose empties the rest of her clip and the ghoul flops to the floor. A few more hear the commotion and charge at the group. Quinlan tries his hardest to shoot the ghouls but only manages to scorch the walls and tables.

"And you were worried I was going to slow you down. If you ask me, it's you who's impairing us," MacCready chides. Quinlan's brows furrow and he sends an angry glare MacCready's way. Rose tries to contain her laughter but a snort escapes her mouth.

"If you two are finished, we have some business to attend to," he hisses, obviously flustered. Rose nods and offers an apology. She knows she shouldn't piss him off because he reports to Maxson, who would undoubtedly give her a lecture followed by a tedious job, but she couldn't help herself. He made it so easy. 

The trio makes their way up the stairs to the set used for beloved TV shows from the past. MacCready makes a beeline for the comic he spotted on the shelf. Quinlan does the same.

"The last edition!" He cries as MacCready begins to thumb through the pages. "I've finally found it!" 

That’s what this is about? A fucking comic book. Rose is irritated. She could have been relaxing by now, sitting in her comfy chair reading an old book she found hidden in a floor panel. She hoped MacCready wouldn't give it to him.

"Nuh-uh," MacCready tuts as Quinlan reaches for the comic. "Finders keepers." 

"Oh, please, please give me it," he importunes. He wanted that comic book as much as he wanted to shot this runty man-child right between the eyes.

"I don’t think so," MacCready says. Quinlan knows MacCready is stubborn. The only way to get what he wants is to make a deal. With the devil.

"I’ll do anything," Quinlan pleads.

"Anything, huh? Lemme think about it for a second.” MacCready scans the room and, after finalizing Quinlan’s fate, agrees to the deal. Quinlan is beginning to regret his decision already.

 

Put this on," MacCready finally says, pointing to the Grognak costume he found earlier sitting in a locker. Quinlan grimaces, weighing the proposition. MacCready becomes impatient and rolls the magazine up. Quinlan winces. It has to be in perfect condition. Or else.

"Okay, fine. I'll wear it. Just stop bending it like that!" He concedes rather quickly, much to MacCready's disappointment. He had planned on torturing the stuffy British man a little bit longer. Quinlan stomps his way to the costume. He reminds her of a baby throwing a temper tantrum.

"Privacy, please," Quinlan demands, waving the other two away. They oblige and head back downstairs. 

"You're terrible, you know that right?" Rose laughs.

"You know it," he winks. "Besides, he deserves it. That asshole—I mean jerk has been giving me a dirty look ever since I stepped foot in his room. I haven’t even done anything!”

“His accent is way over the top,” Rose says.

“It’s so irritating! He sounds like he thinks everyone else is below him. 'Look at me, I'm a nerd and I collect documents for a living. I have four eyes and I think I'm better than the Commonwealth scum because I have a big brain,’” MacCready mocks Quinlan, fake accent on point.

"'No,Scribe, put that down. You might fracture it by a millimeter. My tea's too hot! Now it's too cold! Bloody hell!’” Rose adds. They over exaggerate his accent, making the mockery funnier. The two crack up from the others impression, practically screeching with laughter.

"Ahem," Quinlan clears his throat as he approaches the two, causing the laughter to stop. Once they looked at him, however, the laugher resumes.

He truly looked ridiculous. The top half of him was exposed and the other half was covered by a green loincloth. His chest is so bare it makes MacCready uncomfortable. His arms are so scrawny and way too hairy.The cloth that covers his lower half is too short for his gangly chicken legs and parts of his underwear are apparent. He still has his glasses on, which makes the outfit that much more ludicrous. MacCready laughs so hard that tears stream down his face and Rose is chortling so hard she snorts. Quinlan's cheeks flush as MacCready wolf whistles.

"Can I ha—" the rest of his sentence is drowned out as a glowing ghoul slams into his side. He screams, high-pitched and shrill, as the ghoul claws at his side. Rose pulls out her gun, fires, and misses. Her body's still shaking with laughter and her aim is wonky. MacCready is having the same problem.

"HELP ME!" Quinlan shrieks as he stumbles out of the charging ghoul's path. He fumbles for the Grognak ax on the wall, favoring his left side. The ghoul had left nasty wounds there, making moving nearly impossible. The ghoul barrels into Quinlan's legs and sends him crashing towards the floor. It starts to tear into Quinlan's side and he protests weakly. By this time, Rose had reigned in her laughter and fires a round into the irradiated human's head. It staggers and begins to rush towards her but is stopped dead by MacCready who shot the ghoul’s head clean off. A part of the brain lands on Quinlan’s head and they rush over to him, nothing but serious as they asses the damage. It did not look good. At all. He had maybe 5 minutes left.

"I'm so sorry Quinlan, I—" Rose says, hoping to ease the pain. She hated to see a life end but there was a part of her that was relieved. She was about to be rid of the one man on the Earth she truly despised. If he wasn't so cheap, mean, and snobby Rose might've warmed up to him. But he was everything that was wrong with the whole Commonwealth.

"I have one last request," Quinlan whispers. "Can you read me the comic?" She could feel his fear as he came to terms with his fate. He knew he wouldn’t make it and as much as Rose despised him, she was going to make sure his last minutes were as close to perfect as possible.

"Of course. MacCready, would you do the honors?"

"Sure thing boss." He opens the cover and begins to read, "Grognak, the mighty fighter, towers above all of his enemies, poised to attack." He stops to show Quinlan the illustration. Quinlan smiles weakly. He turns the page and starts to read but Quinlan has already passed.

Rose says nothing but laughs awkwardly. Death makes her extremely uncomfortable. MacCready was unfazed.

"He kinda deserved it," MacCready says matter-of-factly.

**

Maxson had not been happy to find out their only tech-savvy member of the Brotherhood had been killed in the field, but death was inevitable in a world as fucked up as the one they inhabited. At first, he thought it had been the runty little shit that had been accompanying Rose—Macaroni or whatever the hell his name was—but once he saw Quinlan's body, he knew there was no way that string bean could inflict those kinds of wounds.

A closed-casket funeral was prepared for Quinlan because his dead body was horrendous. Most of his left side had been torn away, intestines pulled out. His leg had been broken when the ghoul shoved him to the ground and a part of his bone stuck out. He would be buried in the Grognak costume, much to Rose and MacCready's amusement. Rose felt bad, but MacCready had to admit that the whole ordeal was slightly comical. Nobody else would found it the least bit funny.

A few of the older members of the Brotherhood—Maxson, Kells, Ingram—had been asked to say a few words. So was Emmet, Quinlan's cat. She meowed and it brought tears to Teegan's eyes.

Quinlan hadn't prepared a will, so all of his stuff was left inside of his room. Maxson claimed Emmet as his own, an action that shocked the crew. Emmet tore up Maxson's battlecoat and peed on his bed so the cat was passed onto Rose.

After the funeral there was a reception and MacCready got wasted. He kept making shitty puns and was starting to piss the others off. It was very disrespectful of him, even thoguh he hated Quinlan. 

No one said it, but they were all glad that Quinlan was gone. His collection of papers and technology hadn’t amounted to much of anything. The field scribe he had berated for messing up one of his comics danced on his grave. The world could rest easier knowing that another dirty 'Wealth scumbag was six feet under.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a friend who has a serious vendetta against Proctor Quinlan.


End file.
